'Deranged': CNN reporter slams Trump for pushing 'disconnected from reality' conspiracy theory to defend Buffalo cops

During a CNN panel discussion on an outrageous tweet by Donald Trump, accusing the 75-year-old victim of a police assault in Buffalo of being an antifa plant to make cops look bad, White House correspondent John Harwood harshly criticized the president as being "deranged."


With CNN host Jim Sciutto kicking off the segment by stating the network couldn't let an obvious lie go unchallenged, Harwood was asked by co-host Pappy Harlow about the president's smear of the man who is still in the hospital in serious condition.

"Poppy, there's no other way to say it," Harwood began. "This tweet from the president is deranged. What it alleges is that 75-year-old Martin Gugino was an antifa provocateur who was trying to interfere with police communications and was -- got a light shove from the officers but fell harder than that on purpose to embarrass them, cracked his head on the sidewalk."

"He's still in the hospital in serious condition," the White House correspondent added. "The two officers have been fired and charged with assault."

"Now, this is completely disconnected from reality," Harwood continued, "and it suggests the president doesn't know that or is deliberately spreading disinformation to try to dig himself out of the deep political hole that he's in. On that disinformation note, it's important to note that he's repeating here a claim that appeared on One America News Network (OANN), which is a nutty outlet, it was presented by a Russian who has also worked for Sputnik which is a Russian propaganda outlet."

"Again, the president who in 2016 welcomed help from Russians in his campaign -- Russians tried to sow discord among the American people for their own geostrategic advantage -- the president it appears is doing that again," he suggested.

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